"Adelies," 2008 oil on wood by Alexis Rockman, from the collection of Robin and Steven Arnold. (Courtesy of El Paso Museum of Art)

The next major exhibition at the El Paso Museum of Art should give visitors a respite from the summer heat. Enjoy it while you can.

"Vanishing Ice: Alpine and Polar Landscapes in Art 1775-2012" will open June 1 in the museum's Hunt Family Gallery.

With works in a variety of media by artists including Ansel Adams, Gustave Doré, Alexis Rockman and Spencer Tunick, "Vanishing Ice" considers diverse and stunning landscapes through art history, within the context of global warming. The museum points out that the art also "offers local audiences exposure to unfamiliar topography very different from the Chihuahuan Desert — as well as the chance to beat the heat this summer in El Paso!"

The show was curated by Barbara Matilsky of the Whatcom Museum in Bellingham, Wash., where the exhibition premiered. She will speak at 6 p.m. June 5; the talk will be free.

On June 6, Nepalese-born American artist Jyoti Duwadi will create a large ice installation outside the museum. "Duwadi's melting work references the beauty, grandeur, and fragility of ice in this contemporary age of unprecedented global warming," according to a press release from the museum. In other words, show up early to enjoy it: "We are not sure how long it will last due to summer temperatures," Jeff Romney, the museum's director of development, said in an email.

After El Paso, the exhibition will travel to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario.

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Admission is $5; free for museum members, active military personnel and their families, and children 12 and younger.

A companion video exhibit, "Water, Water Everywhere: Paean to a Vanishing Resource," opens June 1 in the de Wetter Gallery. In it, a series of videos — experimental, educational, humorous, solemn, animated or acted — will play in a continuous loop. "Water Water Everywhere" was curated by Jennifer Heath and organized by Baksun Arts & Books in Boulder, Colo. Admission is free.